Vermont / New Hampshire News

Upcoming planting event – 9/14

PLANTINGS IN NEW LONDON, NH

On Saturday, September 14th, TACF VT/NH will hold its first ever joint Orchard Management Day with the New London, NH Conservation Commission (NLCC). This Commission is a proud chapter member which has eighty chestnut trees growing on various public lands in New London and another twenty seedlings to plant and cage from this year’s free nut distribution. 

 

Following a presentation by NLCC at our annual meeting in the spring, some members toured their plantings, young and older. And at a recent board meeting, your Board of Directors decided joint relationships with Commissions like the NLCC made perfect sense and a path for the future – extending TACF VT/NH’s mission by combining financial, human and land resources of like-minded organizations within chapter geography to plant and manage Chestnut. The board authorized the purchase of proper posts and caging for half their plantings this year, and the other half next year.

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On Saturday September 14th, volunteers from TACF VT/NH will join volunteers of the NLCC at the Park-n-Ride on Route 104 West, right off exit 12 of Interstate 89 (one of the New London exits) at 8am. We will divide up to work in two of their planting sites. Sloped locations where some new plantings will go in, and some existing plantings will be modified – reposted and caged to GCO standards. NLCC has secured wood chip mulch for all the plantings, some of which have reached eight feet tall. Holes have already been dug for new plantings, so we’re anticipating that work will be done by noon. The weather should be cooler, some fall breezes blowing and colors beginning to show. If you have volunteered before you’ll know this is a great time to come out, and if you haven’t come out before it’s the perfect opportunity, and an important one.

 

Following the work, we’ll be moving to a Sunapee lakeshore for time enjoying a barbecue lunch – and if you’re interested – a final 2024 swim. With a good volunteer turnout, we should wrap up (including lunch) by 12 – 1pm. There’s nothing you need to bring except your energy, enthusiasm for Chestnut and a pair of leather work gloves. There will be access to toileting facilities of some kind. RSVP to Evan Fox – moc.liamg@704xofe

 

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Lucinda’s got a tree to introduce you to 🌳👋
Meet even more trees at tacf.org/meet-the-trees/
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This is D2-19-136 if you'd like to view it on our webpage!

Great video, keep them coming.

Thanks. I have one from OIKOS that was advertised as 95% American. Here's the trunk -- alittle blight on the lowest branch at left, but that's been yrs ago and has healed over. It's been putting out male pollen racemes, but they don't open (become fuzzy) -- don't know why.

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Reminder! TACF's 2025 American Chestnut Photo Contest is going on now, with a new, extended deadline!

The first-place winner will have their photo featured on the cover of a future issue of Chestnut magazine and receive a one-year TACF membership, along with a T-shirt and hat. The second-place winner will receive a T-shirt and sticker, and the third-place winner will receive a sticker. All winners will be recognized in a future issue of Chestnut.

Visit tacf.org/2025-photo-contest/ for all the details.
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Reminder! TACFs 2025 American Chestnut Photo Contest is going on now, with a new, extended deadline! The first-place winner will have their photo featured on the cover of a future issue of Chestnut magazine and receive a one-year TACF membership, along with a T-shirt and hat. The second-place winner will receive a T-shirt and sticker, and the third-place winner will receive a sticker. All winners will be recognized in a future issue of Chestnut.Visit https://tacf.org/2025-photo-contest/ for all the details.

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who has chestnut seeds? i want to grow some.

Celebrate the legacy of Rex Mann—forester, storyteller, and passionate champion for the American chestnut—with this limited edition Leave Tracks t-shirt.

Rex devoted his life to restoring forests and inspiring others to care for the land. Now, you can honor his memory and help carry his mission forward.

🌳 100% of the proceeds from every shirt go to The American Chestnut Foundation (THANK YOU!), supporting the work Rex believed in so deeply.

👉 Pre-order now through August 2: scottmann.com/store/Leave-Tracks-In-Honor-of-Rex-Mann-PREORDER-p768130686

Let’s keep walking the trail Rex helped blaze.
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Celebrate the legacy of Rex Mann—forester, storyteller, and passionate champion for the American chestnut—with this limited edition Leave Tracks t-shirt.Rex devoted his life to restoring forests and inspiring others to care for the land. Now, you can honor his memory and help carry his mission forward.🌳 100% of the proceeds from every shirt go to The American Chestnut Foundation (THANK YOU!), supporting the work Rex believed in so deeply.👉 Pre-order now through August 2: https://scottmann.com/store/Leave-Tracks-In-Honor-of-Rex-Mann-PREORDER-p768130686Let’s keep walking the trail Rex helped blaze.

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Transgenic American Chestnuts are still a much better option. The product of this method will always be a hybrid and that should not be the goal.

One of the greatest ecological disasters the US has ever seen. Chestnut blight wiped out the American chestnut tree in less than 50 years.⁠
A tree that once made up nearly 25% of the eastern forests was reduced to a functionally extinct species.⁠

The Asian fungus Cryphonectria parasitica was accidentally introduced into the United States in the late 1800s. While a few diseased chestnuts were noted in the 1880s and 90s, it wasn't until 1904 that the pathogen was identified in New York City. From that point, the blight spread rapidly. By 1950 the entire range had been consumed.⁠

The fungus causes cankers that spread around the trunk of the tree, girdling it and killing everything above ground. Many root systems still survive today and continue to send up shoots, but these also eventually succumb to blight. Because American chestnuts rarely survive long enough to reproduce, the species is considered functionally extinct.⁠

The American Chestnut Foundation is working to develop blight-resistant American chestnuts that can be used to restore this iconic tree to its native range. Learn more at tacf.org/about-us (link in bio)
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I think I may have found an American Chestnut tucked away in a backyard

Incredibly important work…it was such a travesty for our forests!

The trees seem to still be intact outside their range in isolated areas. Theres a few large ones here in central Michigan on a peninsula and again on the Leelenau peninsula in the nw lower peninsula. I keep seeing people chime in about adult trees here and there. Seems like there's hope!

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